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Lexus TV – Case Study

HYFN was tasked to redesign the Lexus TV kiosk inventory search application inside select dealerships. The existing version at the dealerships were visually un-appealing, complicated to navigate and most importantly not being used because it looked like a television that you could not interact with.

TEAM

I was the design lead on the project and was responsible for the visual and interaction design. The team was comprised with a production, motion and production designer. We worked with a consulting agency that functioned as client services to Lexus.

RESEARCH

We held a stakeholder meeting with the client to get a better understanding on what needed to be solved. As a kiosk experience it was imperative that we understood where Lexus TV would sit on the Lexus dealer showroom floor and how actual users would interact with it. To better understand these and other questions, our UX team conducted an ethnographic study where we went to Lexus (and close competitor) dealerships to passively watch how car shopper use technology on-site. Our research uncovered key trends that not only helped us strategize an optimal digital solution but also innovate beyond the competitors. From this research we understood how important it was to clearly identify that the screens were in fact touch screens (often missed by car shoppers) and that dealers would use the kiosk as a sales tool to help engage with car buyers while walking around the sales floor.

The kiosk setup did not look inviting or interactive

The kiosk setup did not look inviting or interactive

Key Insights

  • The physical location and set-up of the kiosk was problematic

  • High contrast is important given nature of screens and potential glare

  • Due to low pixel density on the screens, drop shadows and other effects that utilize gradients often look grainy compared to higher resolution computer displays

  • Large screen means that motion, especially of large elements, need to draw the eye

  • Potential buyers were not using the kiosk

  • The kiosk UI was not aligned with the Lexus brand

 

THE USERS

The two main users are potential customer as well as the sales people on the floor.

Goals

  • Find information about a specific Lexus model

  • Search where a specific model is located

  • Take a test drive and ultimately purchase a Lexus

Frustrations

  • All the salespeople may be helping other customers

  • They cannot locate a desired model with all the options they desire

 

CREATING A PLAN

Following this discovery research phase, our team began strategizing how the experience should flow and what type of content the system would have to gather and showcase to best support the users’ goals. During the UX Design phase the UX team tackled the information architecture and created key user flows for the experience. This was followed by a number of  sketch sessions to flesh out the design and to think through key interactions.  When complete, we were in a good place to create annotated wireframes that best demonstrated the strategy.

 

VISUAL DESIGN

We wanted to make the kiosk a playful and interactive experience. It was meant to feel more like a game than a tool. So we drew inspiration from gaming UIs as well as the Lexus instrument cluster design that use glowing colors, smooth transitions, and animations to reveal content and guide the user through the experience.

Drawing inspiration from the instrument cluster.

Drawing inspiration from the instrument cluster.

Using a finger print icon alerted the user to interact with the kiosk

Homescreen

Homescreen

RECAP

The kiosk was received positively by the client and was excited to see it in the dealerships. The initial scope of the project was to build out the inventory tool but our excellent work lead to a contract to build the entire experience. This work also opened up relationships with Toyota and Scion.